The Mother
by MaceWindovahkiin117
Summary: Echidna, the mother of all monsters, has decided not to remain peaceful. The third son of Hades in several decades, Joshua Greene, is charged with stopping her.
1. Chapter 1

"You cannot get angry at me, Zeus!" Hades shouted. "Even when we still had the Big Three pact, you broke it twice!"

"I recognize that," Zeus said. "Still, you know the danger-"

"Yes, I do. Which is why I chose the mortal that I did." With that, Hades vanished in a cloud of darkness.

/\

Joshua woke up. That had been an odd dream. He had been told earlier that demigod dreams were supposed to mean something, but he didn't ponder the dream long before falling asleep again.

/\

Josh found himself in a cave. In the center of this cave was a single man, being faced by an army of... something. At the army's head was a boy. He looked about eighteen, though Josh couldn't be sure. He was dressed in black jeans, a black shirt and jacket, black shoes, had black hair, even black gloves. The only thing he wore that wasn't black was his ring, which was silver and shaped like a skull. The boy's skin was pale, and his face gaunt, as though he hadn't eaten in days. His eyes were strikingly similar to Josh's: so deep brown that they could hardly be distinguished from black. The phrase _brown, almost black_ didn't even cover it. You had to look really closely to see the line between the pupil and the iris. The boy looked at the lone man with fear, determination, anger, everything negative.

"Nico DiAngelo, was it?" the man asked. "Supposed King of Ghosts?"

Nico's eyes narrowed. "What of it?"

"Well, Nico..." the lone man snapped his fingers, and the army behind Nico vanished. They reappeared in full-force behind the man, now in the light. They were dead. All skeletal warriors, in different clothing of wars in history. Confederates from the Civil War, Patriots from the Revolution, even some modern army soldiers. Josh was suddenly very afraid for this Nico. "...you've just lost your throne," the man continued. The skeletal warriors surged forward, and Nico shouted. One of them faltered, stabbed the strange man in the back, then collapsed. The rest, though, continued forward.

/\

Joshua awoke again, and stood. His heart was pounding. He sprinted from the Hermes cabin, toward the new installment at Camp Half-Blood. It was a misty fountain that absorbed light to make a constant rainbow. It was used for Iris-messages. Josh threw in a golden drachma, and spoke frantically.

"Show me Nico DiAngelo..." Josh faltered. He knew he was supposed to say where, but he didn't know. "...in that cave!" he finished. To his surprise, the mist shimmered. He looked in, and saw Nico fighting off an army of undead. He was standing on a hill of bones, and it took Josh a moment to realize that it was the remains of part of the army. Even as Josh watched, Nico was spinning and slashing, destroying the skeletal beings. Still, they would soon overtake him. Josh wanted the undead to stop, wanted them gone. He felt a tugging in his gut, and the undead crumbled. Josh collapsed, barely regaining his feet. Nico looked around, and saw the message.

"Who are you?" Nico said suspiciously.

"I'm- I'm Josh."

"Did you do that?" Nico asked.

"Um... I don't know..."

Nico looked puzzled. "Did you feel anything? Some strange sensation?"

"Yes. Like I just ate too much and-"

"Well, Josh, congratulations. You're a son of Hades."

"What?!" Josh yelled. He forgot for the moment that it was still, like, 1 o'clock in the morning.

"Nobody else would be able to do that, especially at such a distance. And, he was right. That man. I have lost my throne, because you are quite obviously more powerful than I am. Congratulations again, because you are now King of Ghosts."

/\

Joshua was found at the fountain. When Nico had told him he was 'King of Ghosts,' he had simply frozen until the Iris-message faded and the sun started to climb. When the first campers started to rise, they found him at the fountain. Just his luck, those first campers were of the Ares cabin, the least accepting of all.

"Who's this?" one said.

"Some Hermes undetermined. Too bad he's not thirteen yet."

"Yeah, then Jackson's little deal would've happened."

Joshua started to get angry. The Ares campers continued to talk about him as if he wasn't there, and blood rose to his face. "Go away," he muttered. He'd tried not to say it, but it had just slipped out. He knew he couldn't win a fight against an Ares posse. Sure, he had five years of martial arts training, but Ares was the god of war. He couldn't' win. The Ares campers got quiet.

"What?"

 _Now I'm in for it,_ Josh thought, but stood anyway. "I said, go away." He turned to face the campers. "Is there a problem with that?" These words were definitely ill-advised. As he turned around, he saw three campers. All at least two years older than him, all angry. He couldn't hope to compete.

"Oh, yeah. There's a problem with that. I think maybe we'll introduce you to the bathrooms. Yeah? You seen the toilets yet?"

Josh flushed again. _King of Ghosts..._ "Oh, I've seen the toilets. And you're about to." Josh reached out his hand, and several forms began to wade out of the canoe lake. The Ares kids didn't see them. The forms finally cleared the water, and Josh saw eight skulls. They rose even more, and Josh could make out U.S. Navy uniforms. The skeletons were covered in seaweed, barnacles, and blackened char-marks. They had apparently sunk at some point. They didn't hold guns, though, but swords.

The Ares campers started forward. Josh had to buy his skeletons some time. They were still a few yards away. He jumped back, sidestepped, and slammed an Ares camper with the heel of his hand. The Ares kid stumbled, knocking over his friends, and Josh's skeletons broke into a run. They reached the tangle of Ares limbs, and somehow disassembled the pretzel. There were two to a camper, holding them back with unnatural strength. The remaining two skeletons had their swords drawn and pointed at the campers. One spoke in a strange chattering noise, and Josh somehow understood him.

"What would you like us to do, sire?"

Josh smiled. "Show them the toilets."

/\

Josh made himself at home in the Hades cabin. He chose a bunk across from Nico's, which was a bit ratty and somewhat frightening. There were a few bones there, some bits of gold, a sword sheath, and a black hoodie. Josh only had a sleeping bag and his issued weapons, which he had gotten his first day at camp. These weapons were fist and foot weapons, which Josh could use with his martial arts skill. For his hands, he had been given leather gloves. They would have been disappointing, except for the fact that they were covered in Celestial Bronze studs, spikes and blades. Every hand strike Josh knew had a set of studs dedicated to it. If he used any of these strikes on something, at least one stud would make contact. Even with all of these studs, he found he could still hold other weapons. If he managed to disarm an enemy, he would still be able to use the weapon. For his feet, he had a set of spiked straps. They could be fastened around his shoes, and had Celestial Bronze spikes all over the tops. The straps and spikes were all connected to a Celestial Bronze plate, which could be fastened to the bottoms of Josh's feet to let him use different kicks that required the bottoms of his feet. Lastly, he had been given a set of elbow pads and kneepads that had Celestial Bronze spikes on them.

Josh laid these weapons on his bunk and walked out of the cabin. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he heard the conch horn blow for breakfast time. He made his way up to the dining pavilion, where everyone was getting settled at their tables. Before Josh sat, Chiron the ancient centaur beckoned him to the front. Once everyone quieted down, Chiron spoke.

"For those who have not heard the news, Josh has been indirectly claimed. He is son of Hades, the third one we've seen at this camp and hopefully the second who'll stay." The half-bloods clapped, not loud or enthusiastic, nor quiet or half-hearted. It was simple applause because Josh was claimed. Josh made his way to the Hades table, where he found one empty goblet and nobody else. He sat, thought about how much he could use some pomegranate juice, and watched the goblet fill with just that. Chiron made one more announcement, then backed off. Dryads and satyrs stepped forward with whatever any given camper wanted, though any meat was super-lean and there was an excess of vegetables. Josh received his choice meal. It was his favorite breakfast: Eggs Benedict. He stood with the rest of the campers, approached a brazier in a line, and waited to give some of his meal to the gods. When he reached the brazier, he portioned out the best parts of the food, dropped them into the fire, and said, "Hades." The smoke floated up with a pleasant pomegranate smell, then twisted like a rag and plunged into the ground.

As Josh walked back toward the table, he heard someone else say "Hades." the voice was strikingly familiar, and Josh couldn't help but turn around. There, walking away from the brazier, was Nico DiAngelo.

"Hello, Joshua. Shall we return to the table?"

Josh nodded and followed Nico back to the Hades table. They sat, but Chiron stepped forward again before they could eat.

"Before you all dig in," he said, which got a groan from the campers, "I forgot one more reminder, which is a bit ironic. We're having Capture the Flag after dinner this evening, as usual." The groan turned to excited murmuring. As Nico started to eat, Josh raised an eyebrow.

"Capture the Flag?"

Nico swallowed and replied. "It's fun. Trust me. Of course, not as thrilling as when we used to use real weapons. Still, good fun and good practice." Nico kept eating.

"What's it like?" Josh asked. It sounded like something he'd be into.

Nico finished his meal and let the dryads take his plate. "Well, we'll start at the beginning, then. Whoever's won the last round-"

"How do you win?" Josh asked.

"I'll get to it," Nico said irritably. Josh took the wise course and shut his mouth. "As I say, whoever's won the last round has a flag. The other victor or champion has the other. We set those up on opposite sides of a selected playing field. The cabins who have the flags choose other cabins to make alliances with, by trading chores or food or activity times. These such trades we'll be experiencing soon. Once the alliances have been formed, and every cabin is on a side, we all equip ourselves with practice weapons. Sometimes the teams have to be evened out, of course. Anyway, we switched to practice weapons a while back after an old fight got someone killed-. But that's beside the point. The mock weapons allow us to fight without much restraint. We also allowed for people to be... er, "killed." Nico made air quotes with his fingers. "Once you get hit in a fatal spot, you're to go back to your flag for 30 seconds. After that you can get back in the fight. The goal is to find the flag and take it back across the boundary line. Once that happens two out of three rounds, the flag will repaint itself to match the cabin who captured it. They become the new host cabin for the next week. They become the ones who make alliances and deals and choose their team. _Now_ you can ask questions."

"Who are the host cabins right now?"

"Well, that's the complicate part. It's Poseidon and Athena, which is unfortunate."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because Percy and Annabeth are... a _thing."_ Nico seemed a bit angry about it for some reason. "They always team up, but last time Percy captured the Ares flag." Nico looked up from Josh, and his bitter look melted. "Here we go."

As if on cue, an Athena camper stopped at their table. He started to say something, but Nico interrupted him. "Your arena time."

The camper thought for a moment, then nodded. "We get yours, right?"

"No."

The Athena kid growled in indecision, then stamped his foot. "Fine." He walked back to the Athena table and said something, which the other campers groaned about.

"What was all that?" Josh asked.

"Athena just recruited us, and now we get two hours in the battle arena instead of just one."

"Wait, why didn't we discuss with the Poseidon cabin first?"

Nico smiled. "Because now we have a bargaining chip. And we're about to be able to use it."

Once again, a camper stopped at their table. He was easily recognized, though: Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon.

"Hey, guys."

At Nico's gesture, Josh tried negotiating. "What's better than an extra arena time?"

Percy thought for a moment. "I'll do your chores all next week."

"Mm, not good enough." Josh drove a hard bargain. According to Nico's face, perhaps a bit too hard.

Percy thought again. "All right. I'll do your chores half of next week, _and_ give you my arena time."

"All for just two people?" Josh asked. Before Percy could change his mind, Josh agreed. "Sure." Percy walked away, and Nico beckoned an Athena camper over.

"We're backing out. You can have your arena time back."

The Athena camper looked a bit disappointed. "What if we-"

"No."

"But you didn't let me-"

"No."

The Athena kid growled and stalked back to his table.

"Well," Nico said. "guess we're on the Poseidon team. Here goes Capture the Flag."

/\

Josh looked over his Capture the Flag equipment. He had grappling gloves, which were open-finger gloves with padded knuckles, MMA shoes, which were foam covers for his shoes, hardened leather chest armor and a leather helmet. He donned all of these in about thirty seconds, and had several minutes to wait for the rest of the camp. Once they finished, Nico approached Josh.

"Looks like you've been ready for a while." Nico slid his wooden sword into a loop on his belt, then put on his helmet. After Chiron reviewed the rules, everyone moved toward the woods. Nico and Josh followed the mass of campers around Percy, and ended up in a nondescript part of the forest. Across the field, Josh could see a tumble of boulders. At this angle, it looked like a massive fist protruding from the ground. On top was a gray flag with an owl in the middle. As Josh continued to walk, watching as the fist started to look like a pile of deer droppings, he ran into something. As he stepped back, he saw a sea-green flag with a gold trident in the middle. Chiron blew the conch horn, and Josh turned to Nico.

"Get into position," Nico said. Josh rushed to the boundary line, which was a stream, and waited. The conch horn blew again, and Nico spoke from behind Josh.

"Go." With that, Nico ran off. Josh crossed the boundary line, and was immediately attacked by two Athena kids. A wooden spear stabbed at him, and he sidestepped. The other camper swung at Josh with a sword, and Josh caught his wrist. With his other hand, Josh grabbed the spear just below the head. The swordsman tried to pull his wrist free, but Josh twisted his arm behind his back. The sword fell to the ground. Josh turned as the spearman tried to pull his spear free, but Josh turned and punched his helmet clean off. The camper staggered back, and Josh ripped the spear from his hands. From there, he spun it like a staff. He smacked the swordsman in the head and his helmet turned sideways. Josh then stopped swinging the spear and stabbed the spearman in the chest. Both grumbled, took back their weapons, and stalked toward the Athena flag. Josh moved forward, keeping to the shadows. A wooden axe suddenly spun from the trees, and Josh leaned back to avoid it. A camper jumped out of the trees and came at him with two daggers. Behind him were two more campers, both armed with swords. One was very tall, and would have a lot of reach. The other was shorter, but had a shield. He might be difficult if Josh didn't have a plan. Josh took the knifeman's wrists, moved his arms, and kicked him in the chest. He went sprawling back into his comrades. Josh picked up a dagger and stepped forward. Before any of the campers could recover, Josh stabbed them each in the chest. He straightened and looked around.

In many places, Josh could see campers locked in intense battles. Even the best and quickest fighters weren't as close to the Athena flag as Josh was. With this in mind, Josh rushed forward. He dodged two campers, swept the leg of a third, and burst into the clearing with the rocks. He jumped forward, punched two archers, and kicked a swordsman. He then jumped to the lowest rock, then the next, and the next. On this one, he encountered another camper with a knife in her hand. She lunged, but Josh easily caught her arm. He spun, dodging a second knife, twisted her arm behind her back, and waited. After half a second, four arrows thudded into the girl's chest piece. Josh leaned forward, said "Sorry," and dropped the girl. She tumbled from the rock and landed on a patch of soft soil. Josh jumped to the highest rock, snatched the flag, and jumped to the ground. The rock was tall, and he had to roll, but he ended up unhurt. Three arrows whizzed past him as he sprinted toward the creek.

Just as Josh was about to cross the line, he saw a girl running toward him, blonde hair flying. In her hand was the Poseidon flag. Josh sped up, but it still seemed like they would cross at the same time. He jumped, leaned until he was almost horizontal, and tucked his left leg under his right. As the girl looked up, she saw Josh flying at her. She faltered some, but Josh was already close. The sole of his right foot smacked into her chest, and she flew back several feet before coming to rest in a pile of leaves. Josh looked up at the flag. A black mark appeared in the fabric, as though it had been ripped. Then the mark filled in with a the sea-green color of the Poseidon flag.

It took about a half second for campers to start streaming out of the trees. They were obviously looking to congratulate Josh, but he wouldn't have any of it. He stepped forward, pushing aside several campers, and knelt next to the girl in the leaves. He was genuinely concerned. That had been his most perfect flying side kick ever, and it was probably very painful as a result. The girl's head was down, and the red horsehair plume on her helmet hung down over her face. When she looked up, Josh saw that she was grinning widely. He smiled in relief, but still asked if she was okay.

"I'm great!" she exclaimed. Suddenly, Percy appeared next to the girl.

"Annabeth!" He shoved Josh in the chest, and he fell on his butt in the creek. Percy stood, and lifted his hand. The water copied the movement exactly. Percy made a fist and brought it down, hard, and the water hand did exactly the same, right next to Josh. It then opened, picked Josh up, and carried him right next to Percy's face.

Percy started some kind of threat. "Don't ever-"

Percy fell, and the water hand splashed back into the creek. Percy rolled over onto his back and saw Josh's skeleton. He had fallen from a tree, and was dressed in a sniper's ghillie suit. His weapon flickered from a great sword to a sniper rifle, then back again. He raised the sword, and before Chiron could intervene, plunged it into the soil next to Percy's head.

"STOP!" Chiron yelled, too late. Josh blanched. He'd been trying to dispel the skeleton for a full minute now. He'd never wanted to go too far, but now he was. In addition, maintaining the skeleton was draining his energy. Finally, he collapsed. The skeleton did the same, the tumble of bones and fake grass sinking into the ground. Josh rolled over, and watched with his rapidly fleeing vision as Chiron trotted over and looked down at him with disappointment.

/\

Josh woke up to a hand on his forehead. He grabbed it, spun the arm attached, and pinned it against its owner's back. Someone approached from the left, and Josh fell over in the opposite direction, still holding the first assailant. As the second got closer, Josh kicked him in the gut. He then let go of his first opponent and rolled to his feet. With a rush, Josh felt his adrenaline leave him and his Fight or Flight instinct broke. Two sons of Apollo writhed on the ground, one cradling his arm and the other holding his stomach. The rest of the sick bay was empty, save one bruised up camper on a cot and two more Apollo healers next to him. All three stared at Josh in shock.

The last of Josh's adrenaline faded, and his knees buckled. His head hurt like nothing he'd ever felt before. Chiron trotted into the sick bay.

"What is going on in here?!" he rumbled.

Josh lowered his head. "I woke up to these two-"

"And your reflexes took over."

Josh looked up.

"It's a good thing to happen in a fight, but not in the sick bay."

"I know, sir." Josh was getting slightly annoyed, now. "It was as I woke up. When I wake up to someone's hand near my face, I'm going to move it, regardless of who it is or where I am." Josh winced. His voice had gradually raised, and his headache had gotten worse and worse. He slumped onto the cot, and Chiron walked over.

"I understand. You need to recover."

As if on cue, Josh fell back on the cot and fell asleep.

/\

Josh woke up again, but this time he was in a small cave. Next to him was a red-haired girl. She wore marker-stained, torn jeans and a maroon Harvard jacket. Despite the strange cave, the girl looked cheerful.

"I'm guessing you're Josh?"

Josh nodded.

"Well, then, here we go." Rachel's face blanked, and green steam billowed from her mouth. It formed strange shapes of creatures, while Rachel spoke in a raspy voice.

 _The mother of enemies will surface again, but this time she'll have more than her one little friend._

 _You will use your birthright to raise up a legion, but they'll only be able to save one small region._

 _The rest of the world will be taken by her, unless put in the hands of an amateur._

 _No one else can assist him, or all will be lost, though beware, for the Mother dislikes to be crossed._

The mist disappeared, and the redheaded girl sat down casually. Josh looked at her with confusion.

"Well?" she said. "You've got your prophecy. What are you waiting for?"


	2. Chapter 2

Josh sat down on his bunk. The prophecy continued to pester him, though Chiron had told him there was nothing he could do.

"The prophecy said specifically that the Mother would rise," Chiron had said, "which means we have to wait for her to rise before we can combat her."

Now, Josh was still trying to figure out what the prophecy meant. He went over it again.

 _The mother of enemies will surface again, but this time she'll have more than her one little friend._

 _You will use your birthright to raise up a legion, but they'll only be able to save one small region._

 _The rest of the world will be taken by her, unless put in the hands of an amateur._

 _No one else can assist him, or all will be lost, though beware, for the Mother dislikes to be crossed._

Odd. That was the only thought that Joshua could focus on. The prophecy was odd and confusing. The first line seemed familiar. The mother of enemies... the most basic enemies of Camp Half-Blood were the monsters. The mother could be Gaea, Echidna, or perhaps Tartarus. All could be leaders of the monsters. Typhon was another possibility, but he'd been sent to Tartarus-the place, not the primordial-very recently. Tartarus was unlikely, as he was considered to be a male. Gaea wasn't as likely as Echidna, for she was just Mother Earth, not necessarily the controller of all monsters. The one little friend bit threw off Josh's conclusion, though. Some story about Percy Jackson and one of the beings...

Nico walked into the cabin. "Hello, Josh. Trying to figure out the prophecy, I suppose?"

Josh nodded. "I think I've got something..."

"Yes?" Nico looked up expectantly, but now the lead was gone. Josh couldn't remember where he was going with it.

"Never mind," Josh said with disappointment. "I can't remember. Should be about dinner time, now-"

The dinner conch horn blew. Josh stood up and followed Nico out of the cabin and up to the pavilion. After everyone had sat down and chosen their drinks, Chiron stamped his hoof. Everyone looked up with excitement, as though they already knew what he was going to say.

"Today," Chiron said, "we have a bit more of a challenge for you all."

"Shouldn't be a challenge." Mr. D muttered. Chiron ignored him.

"You will be participating in a monster hunt in the woods." Chiron instantly stamped his hoof again, not letting the talking or cheering start. "This isn't only a hunt, but a cabin competition. The cabin to kill the greatest number of monsters will be granted their choice of all activity times for the week."

"Um..." Josh raised his hand. Chiron acknowledged. "What monsters will we be hunting? What kind?"

Chiron nodded. "That would be useful to know, wouldn't it? Well, the most prominent among them are the wild harpies. Other than that, we have Arimaspi-"

"Furry one-eyed men," Nico said.

"-Cynocephali-" Chiron continued.

"Biped dog-humanoids," Nico explained.

"-and Acephali."

"Headless men with faces upon their chests," Nico said. Chiron glanced annoyedly at him.

"The Zeus, Poseidon and Hades cabins will make truces with the cabin of their choice. Well, you've got monsters to hunt. Best get to it."

/\

All of the campers sprang into action. Nico and Josh stood, and both approached the same table: the Hephaestus table. Nico approached the cabin head, Leo, and he immediately turned around.

"Yes." Leo managed to keep a straight face for about half a second, then laughed. "You were joining us for the hunt, right?"

Nico cracked a smile and nodded. Josh noticed that Percy went to the Athena table, and they accepted him immediately, and Jason of the Zeus cabin went to the Aphrodite table. Josh wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he started toward the Hades cabin with Nico. It was made entirely of obsidian, with torches of green fire burning out front and a skull above the door. When Josh reached his bunk, he started to put on his weapons and armor. First was the leather chest plate. It had one shoulder pad, on the left, and a main central plate that went over Josh's rib cage. From the bottom of his rib cage to his hip bones, the chest piece was made of thin hardened strips so he could bend at the waist. At the hip bones, the armor piece split into two pieces that covered his thighs. It did the same in the back. The whole inside was lined with Celestial Bronze chainmail, which stuck out in short sleeves and a neck guard. The chest piece had only one shoulder pad, on the left.

He put on his shoe straps first, testing the sharpness of the various spikes and studs on it. He worked upward from there, putting on his spiked Celestial Bronze knee guards, then his leather elbow guards with Celestial Bronze spikes, then his gloves. He turned around, and sighed. Nico stood, holding up an identical set of equipment, only with black leather instead of brown and Stygian Iron instead of Celestial Bronze. It glowed black, if that was possible, so it looked less like an object and more like a void.

"If you're going to be a son of Hades, you should send the souls of your enemies to him." Josh smiled a little, then switched his equipment for what Nico had. He had to admit, it suited him a lot better. When he and Nico walked out of the cabin, they found the entirety of the Hephaestus cabin waiting outside. Leo looked up as they approached.

"You ready? We're the first ones ready, so we'll go into the woods first," Leo said.

Nico nodded. "Let's go." They went up to the pavilion, and waited next to Chiron. Once everyone was back to the pavilion, Chiron stamped his hoof. "The Hephaestus and Hades cabins will go first. While they're out, we'll get started on dinner." Chiron turned directly to Josh, then waggled his fingers.

"Let's go," Leo said, and started toward the woods. Josh, Nico, and the Hephaestus cabin followed him.

"Well," Josh muttered. "Here we go."

/\

"Duct tape!" Josh shouted. Leo reached into his magical tool belt, pulled out a roll of duct tape, and tossed it to Josh. He then proceeded to wrap both the Arimaspus and the tree in the tape. The Arimaspus had an interesting look. It was humanoid, but covered in shaggy gray fur. It had the hindquarters of a goat, and the tail of a lion. Its arms extended almost all the way to the ground, with three wickedly sharp claws and one opposable dull one. It had a snout full of fangs, with a wispy strip of beard on the end. On the sides of its head were curly ram's horns with brass rings fixed along them. Placed just under these were donkey-like ears that angled down and away from the head. Just above the snout was a single large yellow eye with a horizontal, semi-rectangular pupil, like that of a goat.

Leo came over with a pencil and a paper from his tool belt. Josh finished taping the Arimaspus to the tree, then took the paper and pencil. He taped the paper above the Arimaspus, stuck the roll of duct tape back into Leo's tool belt, and jotted down a note.

 _First one's on the house. You'll need it._ The note was meant as a taunt, and Josh figured it would work to frustrate whoever found the Arimaspus. As he finished the note, someone cried out.

"Watch it!"

A black shape charged from behind a tree toward Leo. Josh's instincts took over, and he spun into a knee strike. The shadow slammed into the spike on Josh's knee guard, and exploded into golden dust. Leo, only a second too late, ripped a Celestial Bronze ball-peen hammer from his tool belt and fell over swinging it. Josh stepped forward, and helped him up. Leo brushed monster dust from his hair and smiled.

"Let's go. Still got to kill some monsters," Josh said. Nico suddenly drew his sword, and spun into a wide slash. His black-hole-like sword met with a second shadow, and it slowed down enough for everyone to see what it was. At first, Josh thought it was a werewolf. It was humanoid and canine at the same time. It had the normal legs of a dog, only human-sized. It had the torso and arms of a man, both covered in pitch-black fur, and large hands with obsidian-like 3-inch long claws. The head was one of a large wolf, with red eyes and sharp ears. Golden blood sprayed from the Cynocephalus's severed head as it flew from the body, and the body's neck stump as it fell to its knees. Just before the monster hit the ground, it dissolved into golden dust, leaving Nico to stand with his black sword covered in golden dust. Josh looked around, and noticed something. Nico had a short, slash-like mark on his arm, but it looked like paint. Josh looked down at his own arm and realized he had one as well. Someone raised and fired a bow, and a shape disintegrated out of a tree. A mark appeared on his arm as well.

"We need to go further into the woods. The monsters likely did the same." There was a collective agreement, and the demigods moved further northwest. They encountered a group of three Harpies, who had the bodies of birds and the heads and hands of women. They were easily dispatched, and their killers received marks on their arms. As they moved deeper into the forest, the groups grew larger. Soon, after the group had killed at least two dozen monsters, they ran into a group of about forty. They immediately split up, storming through the monsters with ease. Josh kicked, punched, and spun. He received more than ten new marks on his arm, making a grand total of nearly twenty. Once he reached the end of his enemy supply, he realized the rest of the group was already dead. They moved further into the trees. After several minutes of not finding anything, they came across a large clearing. Inside were at least a hundred monsters. This had to be all of them. Arimaspi, Cynocephali, Acephali, and many many harpies. Standing over all of them was a large Acephalus, perhaps impossibly large. He was just a body, no head. His legs were armored with plate bronze, and he had bronze bracers on. He held two short Greek-style swords, one in each hand. On his chest was a large face, which was addressing the crowd of monsters now.

"The Mother has spoken! We were allowed into this camp as a test, but we will not test. Instead, we will overthrow. We will capture. We will slaughter!"

The crowd roared, literally in most cases. Then they drew their bronze weapons and scattered. Perhaps it was an unlucky coincidence, but a great deal of the monsters split toward the Hephaestus-Hades campers. Josh's expression grew as dark as the Underworld. He spread his arms, and countless holes appeared in the ground. Skeletons clawed their way out of the ground, sporting the uniforms of all armies over the course of human history. They all held Greek weapons, though, some of them with bronze armor over their uniforms. They creaked, clattered, and murdered. Every time a monster disintegrated courtesy of one of the skeletons, a mark appeared on Josh's arm. Soon, it looked like it had been tossed into a wood chipper.

Finally, the campers joined in. They flooded the clearing, destroying monsters two at a time. Josh's skeletons continued to climb from the ground, and he started to grow weak. He waved his hand again, and the stream of undead halted. Josh collapsed, though, and waited for several moments before he could join the fight. As he got to his feet, he saw the leader Acephalus sweeping aside campers with his swords. Some landed, unmoving, while some tried to crawl out of harm's way. The campers' momentum had been stopped, and the monsters managed to regroup and banish their confusion. There was now a group of approximately thirty monsters around the leader Acephalus. The campers pulled back to regroup but it was a mass of confusion. Soon, the monsters would renew their attack and turn the battle into a massacre.

Josh took charge. "Everyone, to me! Spread yourselves thin; they have archers! Anyone with a first aid kit, find survivors! Go!"

Now that the campers had a definite objective, they scrambled to obey. Every fallen camper was dragged into the trees and treated, while those still fit to fight formed up behind Josh. They were accompanied by Josh's twenty-odd remaining skeletons. The inaccurate monster archers fired in between the campers. Their usual tactic of firing into a group was thwarted by the spaces between their opponents.

"Attack!" Josh yelled. He charged straight for the leader. Three arrows split the air around him, disintegrating harpies. A Cynocephalus charged at Josh, but he jumped. He used the Cynocephalus' head as a step, leaping toward the leader's gut. He stretched out his leg in a flying side kick, and the Acephalus stupidly tried to cut him out of the air. Josh tipped forward a bit, though, and used the sword as a second step. He flipped once, and punched one of the Acephalus's breast-borne eyes. As the leader dropped one of his swords, Josh dropped into his gasping mouth. The Acephalus's massive hand slapped over his already wounded eye, just missing Josh. Josh landed on the Acephalus's tongue, and he closed his mouth. Josh slid partway down the leader's massive throat, then kicked off the back of the throat toward the front. His fists led as he burst out of the leader's neck via his Adam's Apple. Josh hit the ground, rolled, and got to his feet. Once there, he flicked the monster slime off his spiked gloves, and felt the massive _WHOOSH_ as the Acephalus disintegrated into golden monster dust. His skeletons had sunk into the ground, their mission complete. There was no longer any threat to Josh's life, and that was the problem they'd come to solve. The terms of their continued existence were met, so Josh wasn't surprised to see that they'd gone.

The other campers stood there, looking on with awe. They had already disintegrated the other monsters, and had time to sheath their weapons and back up. They hadn't wanted to attack the leader, after seeing him swallow Josh whole, so they'd watched as he'd gagged, choked, and exploded outward in a flurry of Stygian Iron spikes and golden dust. His arms were now decorated with nearly a hundred red lines. The most he saw on any other one person before him was Leo Valdez, the Hephaestus cabin leader, but he only had fourteen marks on his arm.

Josh just had time to say, "What are you all staring at?" before a conch horn blew in the distance. Everyone knew what that meant: make your way back to camp. They straggled south, still staring at Josh and muttering amongst themselves. Josh and Nico brought up the rear, talking to each other.

"Where did you find the power to do that?" Nico asked.

"I don't know. I saw an overwhelming force, and I needed to even the playing field."

"So you've had experience with battle before?"

"Yes. Mostly me versus a random number of opponents from one to six. Any time I had to fight more than one, I found a way to balance the odds."

"It's a good skill to have."

"I agree."

They reached the camp. Chiron looked over the force, and seemed very satisfied with the marks he saw. Then his eyes passed over Josh and a look of concern crossed his features.

"Are you alright? Your arms..." Chiron's concern turned to awe. "How did you kill so many...? That must be all of them!"

"It is," Josh said accusingly. "I appreciate that you told us what we'd be fighting, but not that they'd all congregate and attack at the same time."

Chiron's expression changed again, to a slightly annoyed look, then an apologetic one. "I didn't know."

Josh calmed down a bit. Of course, nobody could have known. Chiron flicked his tail nervously, and stepped forward. "How did you kill so many?"

"Skeletons," Josh replied.

Chiron looked over his arms again. "But... that must have been dozens of skeletons! Where did you get the energy?"

"From myself..." Josh was getting a bit annoyed at the constant questions now.

"Well, I think we all know who the winner is! Hades cabin has scored more points than the entire camp combined. You two will have your pick of activity times for the week."

The Hephaestus cabin groaned and argued, but Chiron shot them a look and they shut up.

"I agree with Chiron," Mr. D said, approaching from the pavilion. "You have done better than any hero ever. Of course, still not very good..." Mr. D trailed off and walked away.

"Let's go plan our week," Nico said.

/\

 _Josh didn't have any control over his own body. He was in a bridge, extremely high above a river. Then he realized, he wasn't him. He was dreaming from the perspective of Percy Jackson. An older woman stood with a chihuahua, and Josh somehow recognized her. The chihuahua grew into a Chimera, and Echidna revealed her true nature. Percy started to fight, but was disarmed. Josh's last sight was the bottom of the bridge retreating upwards as Percy dropped toward the river._

"Echidna!" Josh yelled rather than exclaimed as he woke up. Nico, and no doubt half of the other campers, woke up with a "huh?". Josh dropped from his bunk and shook Nico into full awareness. "The prophecy! The Mother is Echidna."

"What?" Nico asked. "How do you know?"

"I remembered the story about Percy fighting Echidna in a dream and it all made sense."

"What?" Nico asked again, slipping back toward his bed. "Percy never dreamed about fighting Echidna. He did it in real life."

"No, I dreamed from Percy's perspective during his fight with Echidna."

"Then Percy is the one that's supposed to save the world?"

"Percy's no amateur." Josh said.

Nico suddenly awakened completely, his eyes wide. "No. He's not. In fact, you're one of the only new campers to show up here in a month. The other three newbies have no birthright that could raise them an army. You're the one to save the world, Josh."

Now it was Josh's turn to sink back toward his bed. However, he wasn't doing it out of exhaustion, rather with dread.


End file.
